Friday, May 7, 2010

One Big Hapa Family

It's been almost been 4 years since I first started out on my journey to create my first feature length documentary, One Big Hapa Family. It has been a true labor of love!

Here is the synopsis:

After a realization at a family reunion, half Japanese-Canadian filmmaker, Jeff Chiba Stearns, embarks on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in his Japanese-Canadian family married interracially after his grandparents’ generation.

This feature live action and animated documentary explores why almost 100% of all Japanese-Canadians are marrying interracially, the highest out of any other ethnicity in Canada, and how their mixed children perceive their unique multiracial identities.

The stories from four generations of a Japanese-Canadian family come to life through the use of innovative animation techniques created by some of Canada’s hottest independent animators, including, Louise Johnson, Ben Meinhardt, Todd Ramsay, Kunal Sen, Jeff Chiba Stearns, and Jonathan Ng. One Big Hapa Family challenges our perceptions of purity and makes us question if mixing is the end of multiculturalism as we know it.

Thank you Jeff. What a wonderful treat to watch the Koga family, whom I feel great affection for. I grew up between your Uncle Morio's house and your Grandpa Chiba's place and feel like many of the people you interviewed are family. Congratulations! It was fantastic!!

Meditating Bunny Studio Website

About Me

Jeff Chiba Stearns is an award-winning Canadian independent animation filmmaker, writer and illustrator, born in Kelowna, BC. His film work incorporates various techniques - animation, documentary, and experimental. In 2001, he founded Meditating Bunny Studio. His short animated films have screened at film festivals around the world and have been broadcast in Canada by the CBC. In 2005, he completed the award-winning classically animated film, “What Are You Anyways?” - The first animated film that explores Hapa issues. After making the film, he has become an international spokesperson for mixed-race identity. The film has screened at over 40 international film festivals and won 7 awards including the award for Best Animated Short Subject at the CAEAA's. His 2007 animation Yellow Sticky Notes won the Prix du Public at the 2009 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival along with 8 other awards. He has also written articles for national publications and lectured around the world at conferences and universities about mixed-race identity, cultural awareness, animation process, and Hapa issues.